1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to protective devices and more particularly to an improved vehicle license plate cover.
2. Prior Art
Vehicle license plates are usually releasably secured to the back and/or front of a vehicle by attachment to a bracket attached to the front bumper or trunk or rear body shell. Occasionally, the license plate is sandwiched between a frame and the bracket. The frame may carry advertising at its perimeter, but otherwise serves no function except to help attach the license plate to the vehicle. According to prevailing motor vehicle codes, the numbers and symbols on the license plate must be clearly visible when the rear plate is viewed from behind it and the front plate is viewed from in front of it. This is to permit quick identification of the vehicle.
Rapid identification of a vehicle may, however, be undesireable, especially under circumstances where surveillance is being carried out by a private or public investigator of civil or criminal activities. It would be desireable under such circumstances to prevent viewing of the license plate from the side, as from a sidewalk, cross-street, house or other building, etc. Blocking of the side view of the license plate should be done in a manner which still conforms to the vehicle codes.
There are also unusual circumstances when the entire vehicle license plate could desireably be covered and fully protected against damage, for example, in the case of a severe sand storm, when traveling through heavy brush or over rocky, pebble-strewn roads and the like, or in a high wind filled with flying debris.
At present there is no vehicle license plate cover which can prevent viewing of the license plate numbers from the side while permitting full viewing thereof from the front and rear, and which also desireably shields the license plate from damage by sand, rocks and flying debris. There is a need for such a cover. Such cover should be simple in construction, inexpensive, durable and efficient. It preferably should be easy to attach and detach. Moreover, it would be desireable if the cover were capable of providing surfaces for carrying indicia which are decorative, informative, etc.